standard chartered securities trading

[wordchild]

Does anyone have any views/experience of Stan Charts online securities trading service in Singapore? I have a bank account with them in Sing and am thinking of opening a trading account as well and switching some of my investments to them. I am a long term buy and hold investor but never the less i am attracted to their low commision rates, free custody etc. One area of concern for me is their depth of market coverage in the UK, in particular, where i own a number of small cap stocks and also some fairly obscure debt instruments and pref shares.

[fletchsmile]

Hi Worldchild

I use it. The main advantages that spring to mind are:

- easily linked to your bank accounts

- access to a dozen major markets with currency accounts to match

- commission structure as you mention, plus no minimums per trade.

- commission rates are lower for Priority Banking customers (SGD 200k+ of assets)

- Platform is free

Disadvantages:

- Yes often doesn't cover smaller stocks or AIM listed stocks in UK

- Corporate actions functionality is poor - you need to call them or email your RM

- If dealing large amounts then someone like Hargreaves Lansdown in the Uk which has fixed commissions per trade can be cheaper

- Platform is crude and basic

- Knowledge and support is poor. Took me ages for example to explain and educate then about W8-BEN forms. Their "expert" who my RM referred to thought div rates should be 30% on US stocks for me as a UK resident and my wife as Thai resident, and doesn't understand about DTAs / W8-BENs. Luckily though I rarely need any support

- If something happens to your connection or a page doesn't refresh then you can end up waiting 15mins to log in again as it still sees you as logged in

- Prices are not real time, 15 mins delay on price feeds

- Absence of charting and other tools

I believe it started life in India and it's basic nature reflects that, as it's not very sophisticated, just functional.

Definitely not suited for short term/ intra day trading. If time critical I use the functionality of my Hargreaves Lansdown brokerage account on UK stocks

On the whole though it's OK for basic investing which is not time critical, and it's functional. It would probably suit you for basic investment and long term holding you're looking for - this is what I mainly use it for.

But you'll probably have to add something else for debt securities, pref shares and many small caps - which is also what I do.

Cheers

Fletch

Edited May 28, 2014 by fletchsmile

[Luang]

Have you taken a look at Saxo, Singapore?

[wordchild]

Thanks for the responses guys; saxo is also on my list.

[mokwit]

Interactive Brokers - US online but maybe have legal domicile in SG.